Hero MotoCorp is India’s largest two-wheeler maker and now it is starting to look everywhere for selling its bikes and this time it is the USA. Hero hopes that everything should begin by next year and it aims to become and create a niche market for its products. Hero MotorCorp has entered as many as 18 global markets in the past 1.5 years and is confident that its motorcycles will be accepted well in the USA as well.
Hero says that for developed western markets (like the States) they are not that much focused on bigger motorcycles. Right now, what Hero wants to be looking at is taking some of its current products and creating a niche for itself. Hero says that the exact date of launch would be in the calendar year 2015 and marketing of the products would be done through Erik Buell Racing (EBR). Despite the US market having a bigger share of higher powered bikes, Hero is confident it will target certain cities to sell its smaller bike for targeting the inter-city commuting segment. Hero currently has bikes in the 100cc to 223cc range. The model range is starting from the entry-level HF Dawn, Splendor to performance oriented bike, the Karizma ZMR. Work in the US has begun and the company is undergoing homologation.
Last October, Hero had displayed some of the products at the motorcycle show in Florida and there was a huge amount of interest from distributors and people. Export plans are there on Hero’s mind since more than two years. The company has established assembly units in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in East Africa through its distributors. Hero is also preparing to set up a manufacturing unit in Colombia to cater to the Latin American markets.
In August 2013, Hero announced plans to enter 50 markets by 2020 with a target of 20 manufacturing facilities across the globe and an overall annual turnover of Rs. 60,000 crores. Hero has also targeted to get 10 per cent of annual sales from export markets which is around one million units by 2017. Hero MotoCorp has also set a total sales target of 100 million units by 2020, having crossed the 50 million milestone last year. Most manufacturers from India are among the largest in the world and exporting their products means an even stronger foothold for the future. New generation products have seen a rise majorly to cater to export markets and free the domestic market from inferior technology.
